Chess

MS KERRIE ANDERSON prep chess coordinator

CHESS CLUB

TSS chess club has reached the healthy number of 50 participants, all of whom gain access to some of four annual interschool tournaments in their Prep school journey. The club now has four coaches teaching from beginner, through intermediate to advanced classes. We thank the coaches for their commitment to teaching our boys skills, strategies, and fostering the confidence to take risks and think laterally about the challenges they face on the board.

TOURNAMENT WINNERS

GPS CHESS 2018 We hit the ground running against Churchie, managing in exactly 50% of all games to either win or draw. The highlight of the 2018 season was Round 7 against IGS, which saw our Prep boys win 100% of their games. We finished the GPS season as we started, on a high, and in great spirits: posting nine out of 12 wins against Nudgee College. A terrific way to end a successful and happy season. Thanks particularly to our reserves who are always keen to participate, play ‘friendly games’ with more advanced players at each venue, and share in the pizza capers and late night bus stopovers at the road-house for food… and more food.

Congratulations to these boys who participated in 2018 GPS. Thomas Xu Ethan Ong Ryan Zhang Ray Zhai Ryan Clinton Howard, Harrison Ellis Gemeri William Zhang Angus Ayre Claude Chabert Tony Guan William Jackson Joseph Sudarmana Luke Kearney Aaron Tran Jake Frenklah Ruben Garnier William McDougall Aryan Gupta Zane Connors Elton Massey Martin Ryder Cody Wood Ashton Bellchambers Jude Purza Page

GPS CHESS ‘SUPPER’

STATE CHESS The following boys qualified for State Chess at BSHS: Xu, Thomas Ong, Ethan Zhai, Ray Zhang, Ryan This is the Chess equivalent of making a Regional Team, our region being the Greater Gold Coast. The Chess Association of Queensland deems that only 4% of participants in any qualifying tournament may play in the State Final, which speaks volumes about the prowess of these four young players. As they finished outright third, TSS are in fact in the top 1.4% (given 868 participants). Accordingly, this is not only a phenomenal achievement by the team, but it has been managed in circumstances where the Premier Grade has its highest aggregate rating in the last 10 years.

WARMING-UP BEFORE A FIXTURE Many thanks to Ethan Ong (Chess Captain), Thomas Xu (highest rated player in the School), Ray Zhai and the remaining cohesive group of Year 6 chess leaders for their mature approach to steering the Chess Club in a most positive, proactive manner.

In his application for Chess Captain at the commencement of 2018, Ethan Ong wrote: Captaincy isn’t just about the badge. It is about showing compassion and passion. If one of the boys is upset about losing a game, I will cheer him up and encourage him never to give up, as the best learning is gained from mistakes. Having good results is important, but making best effort matters the most.

MR ROB CLEGG director of chess

“Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do; strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.” Savielly Tartakower

2018 was another year of growth for the TSS Chess squad, with ever increasing numbers involved with both social chess through the Chess Club and playing in the GPS competition.

Playing chess helps in many areas of academic and social development, including improving concentration, memory, planning and foresight, so it is pleasing to see the large number of students in the Senior School participating this year.

Our Premier Team this year consisted of Taisei Fujii (Chess Vice-Captain) on Board 1, Heaven Elishav (Chess Captain for 2018) on Board 2, Josh Laurens on Board 3 and Dylan Selby playing on Board 4. The team were competitive in every round and it was always exciting to watch their games. With such a young team the prospects for next year are very promising. All TSS teams performed well throughout the GPS season. Our highest performing team of 2018 was the Open A team, finishing third in their competition. Players in the Open A team included Thomas Xu, Ray Zhai, Ethan Ong, Lachlan Lane and Thien Tran.

Throughout the season, 58 students played at least one game of GPS chess. As was the case last year, some of our most successful teams were made up of Years 5, 6 and 7 students. There are some very talented chess players along with a core group of players committed to improving their game in all our age groups and so the School can look forward to continued success in 2019.

CHESS AWARDS FOR 2018: Captain of Chess: Heaven Elishav

Most Points in GPS in Premier Team: Taisei Fujii

Most Points in GPS in Junior Team: Harry Zdanowicz

Most Improved Player: Lachlan Lane

Encouragement Award: Jeremiah Gan Player of the Round, Round 1 (ACGS): Declan Attenborough Player of the Round, Round 2 (BSHS): Jinxiang Li Player of the Round, Round 3 (TGS): Vishaak Gangasandra Player of the Round, Round 4 (BGS): Sonny Walkinshaw Player of the Round, Round 5 (BBC): Lachlan Lane

Player of the Round, Round 6(GT): Thien Tran

Player of the Round, Round 7 (IGS): Dylan Selby Player of the Round, Round 9 (NC): Taisei Fujii TSS chess players also participated in the Gold Coast Individual Age Chess

Championships in Term Four. After seven rounds of intense concentration, TSS had some outstanding results. Declan Attenborough had a very successful day with a score of 5.5 out of 7 in his age group, while Lachlan Lane, Josh Laurens and Jinxiang Li scored 5 out of 7 for the day. My thanks go to the Chess Captain, Heaven Elishav for his leadership of the team and his popular speeches at assembly. Heaven was a very proactive captain and did a lot to raise the profile of chess at the School this year. The Preparatory School were grateful for Heaven’s visits to them to help with their chess program. Our coaching sessions continued to be popular and we were fortunate to again secure the services of a very knowledgeable coach in Women International Master and Australian representative in the 2016 Chess Olympiad, Alexandra Jule. My thanks also go to Mr David Ellis and Ms Kerrie Anderson for their assistance with the GPS program this year. House Chess competition: This rapid chess competition, held in the Memorial Room in Term Four, was fiercely contested again by all Houses. This year Atkinson held off all the competition to win the trophy and gain valuable points for the House Shield. Well done Atkinson House.

PREPARATORY GPS CHESS TEAM

SEATED ROW: R. ZHAI, R. GARNIER, W. MCDOUGALL, J. PURZA-PAGE, J. FRENKLAH SECOND ROW: E. ONG, T. XU, A. TRAN, H. HOWARD, A. BELLCHAMBERS THIRD ROW: J. SUDARMANA, R. CLINTON, A. GUPTA, X. GUAN, E. GEMERI TEACHER: MRS K. ANDERSON

SENIOR GPS CHESS TEAM

SEATED ROW: N. PURZA PAGE, D. ATTENBOROUGH, H. ELISHAV, T. FUJII, V. GANGASANDRA SECOND ROW: M. CARR, J. GAN, Y. SONI, J. LAURENS, L. LANE, L. DOUGHERTY, D. BLACKMORE THIRD ROW: MR R. CLEGG, H. ALOYSIUS, T. CHEN, D. ALOYSIUS, T. TRAN, H. ZDANOWICZ, R. HEBDON, MR D. ELLIS FOURTH ROW: S. WALKINSHAW, C. GOH, J. BOLTON, M. DWYER, J. LI, F. LANE, D. SELBY